Non-transitory medium, access control method, and information processing apparatus

ABSTRACT

A file server has a conversion table that stores therein, in a corresponding manner, logical addresses specified by a higher-level layer and physical addresses specified by a disk driver that are address information indicative of a storage area in a disk device. The file server accesses the disk device with a storage area indicated by a physical address as an access destination and counts up the number of access requests to each storage area in a given period of time for each of the logical addresses. The file server then updates the conversion table such that the physical addresses are lined up in a descending order of the logical addresses of a higher number of the access requests counted. Thereafter, the file server changes storage areas of data stored in the storage device based on the conversion table updated.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority of theprior Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-264379, filed on Nov. 26,2010, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The embodiments discussed herein are directed to access control tofiles.

BACKGROUND

In recent years, file server systems are known to share data with aplurality of client terminals. Such a file server system includes astorage device such as a disk device that stores therein data to be thesubject of access, and an information processing apparatus such as afile server that receives an access request from a client terminal andaccesses the disk device.

When such a file server receives access request from a client terminalthat uses the file server system, the file server carries out an accessto the disk device to obtain data from the disk device and transfers thedata to the client terminal. In this process, the file server takestime, from executing the access to the disk device until retrieving thedata from the disk device, such as a seek time for moving a head to atrack of an access position and a rotational waiting time for the accessposition on a recording medium to rotate to reach the position of thehead. A related art example is described in Japanese Laid-open PatentPublication No. 03-034158.

The file server system described above, however, has a tendency ofaccess performance to deteriorate. For example, when storage areas ofdata of high access frequency are dispersed on the disk device, theaccess performance deteriorates. More specifically, when the storageareas of data of high access frequency are dispersed on a disk, thedistance between pieces of the data of high access frequency becomeslonger, whereby the time for the head to move and the time for the diskto rotate become longer. As a consequence, seek operation and rotationalwaiting operation takes longer time, whereby the access performancedeteriorates.

An example of a tendency of access requests from client terminals in afile server system will be described with reference to FIG. 16. FIG. 16is an exemplary chart for explaining the tendency of access requestsfrom client terminals. In the example in FIG. 16, the abscissa axisrepresents an offset uniquely given to an area of a disk device in aunit of 1 GB, and the ordinate axis represents a rate of I/O load causedby an access to full load for each area. The example in FIG. 16illustrate vertical lines with diamonds, squares, triangles, and Xs attheir both ends representing respective load statuses. A line withdiamonds represents the load status of each area caused by an accessfrom 0:00 to 5:59 and a line with squares represents the load status ofeach area by an access from 6:00 to 11:59. A line with trianglesrepresents the load status of each area caused by an access from 12:00to 17:59 and a line with Xs represents the load status of each area byan access from 18:00 to 23:59.

As indicated in FIG. 16, accesses occur in limited areas and occur innearly the same areas throughout the day. For example, in the exampleindicated in FIG. 16, no access occurs for the storage areas of offsets1386 to 1932. Furthermore, accesses are concentrated only in limitedareas making the load high, resulting in a plurality of dispersed areaswith high load. For example, in the example indicated in FIG. 16,accesses are concentrated in the storage areas of offsets 378 to 420 andon the storage areas of offsets 1302 to 1344 and these storage areas ofconcentrated accesses are far apart from one another.

Under such a tendency, as described above, the distance between piecesof the data of high access frequency is long and the time for the headto move and the time for the disk to rotate become longer. As a result,the time it takes for the seek operation and the rotational waitingoperation becomes longer, whereby the access performance deteriorates.

As a way to make a seek time and a rotational waiting time short, thereis a method for causing a disk controller to move data of high accessfrequency to an outer circumferential zone of the disk which is fasterthan an inner circumferential zone of the disk. However, to realize themethod of disposing data of high access frequency at the outercircumference of the disk by the disk controller, it is preferable toprepare special hardware for each disk device. The above-described issueis not limited to file servers, and it is common to informationprocessing apparatuses that control an access to storage devices.

SUMMARY

According to an aspect of an embodiment of the invention, acomputer-readable, non-transitory medium stores an access controlprogram causing a computer to perform accessing a storage device with astorage area indicated by second address information as an accessdestination, when a device driver receives an access request to thestorage device from a higher-level layer, by referring to a storagemodule that stores therein a correspondence relationship between a firstaddress specified by kernel and a second address converted from thefirst address that are address information indicative of a storage areain the storage device and by converting the first address informationincluded in the access request to the second address information;counting number of access requests to each storage area from thehigher-level layer to the device driver in a given period of time foreach piece of the first address information; updating the correspondencerelationship in the storage module such that the second addressinformation is lined up in a descending order of the first addressinformation of a higher number of the access requests counted; andchanging storage areas of data stored in the storage device based on thecorrespondence relationship updated.

The object and advantages of the embodiment will be realized andattained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointedout in the claims.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and arenot restrictive of the embodiment, as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a system block diagram illustrating an overall configurationof a system including a file server according to a first embodiment ofthe invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the fileserver according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a table illustrating an example of a count table;

FIG. 4 is a table illustrating an example of a conversion table;

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the process performed by a diskdriver in the file server;

FIG. 6 is a table illustrating an example of the count table;

FIG. 7 is a table illustrating an example of the conversion table;

FIG. 8 is a graph for explaining iops of data storage areas after achanging process;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a processing operation of the fileserver according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a file serveraccording to a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of a dividing unitchanging process performed by the file server according to the secondembodiment;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a processing operation of the fileserver according to the second embodiment;

FIG. 13 illustrates graphs for explaining the process of determiningwhether to perform a reordering process based on the distance betweenhot spots;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a processing operation of a fileserver according to a third embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating a computer that executes anaccess control program; and

FIG. 16 is a chart for explaining a tendency of access requests fromclient terminals.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be explained withreference to accompanying drawings.

[a] First Embodiment

In the following embodiment, the configuration and the process flow of afile server according to a first embodiment of the invention will beexplained in sequence, and lastly the effect of the first embodimentwill be described.

Configuration of File Server

With reference to FIG. 1, a system configuration that is an overallconfiguration of a system including the file server according to thefirst embodiment will be described first. FIG. 1 is a system blockdiagram illustrating the overall configuration of the system includingthe file server according to the first embodiment. As illustrated inFIG. 1, the system including the file server includes a file server 10,a plurality of client terminals 20, and a disk device 30. The fileserver 10 is connected with the client terminals 20 via a local areanetwork (LAN) 40.

The file server 10 receives an access request from the client terminal20 and accesses the disk device 30 in response to the access request.For example, in the file server 10, a samba program as a computerprogram for receiving access requests is run in a user space. When thefile server 10 receives an access request from a client terminal 20, thefile server 10 obtains address destination information specifying anaccess destination and being included in the access request, andnotifies a disk driver in a kernel space of the access destinationinformation. The disk driver here is a device driver that controlshardware and is software that relays communications between an operatingsystem (OS) and the hardware.

The disk driver of the file server 10 then executes an access to thedisk device 30 in response to the access destination information. Thekernel space here is a lower-level layer where basic software runs andfunctions of the system such as hardware control, task management, fileand system management, and network connection are executed. Meanwhile,the user space is a higher-level layer where individual applicationprograms run and computer programs for receiving access requests and thelike are running.

The client terminal 20 notifies the file server 10 of the access requestto the disk device 30 via the LAN 40 and receives response data to theaccess request from the disk device 30. The disk device 30 storestherein the data to be the subject of access, and reading or writing ofthe data is controlled by the file server 10.

With reference to FIG. 2, the configuration of the file server 10depicted in FIG. 1 will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagramillustrating the configuration of the file server according to the firstembodiment. As indicated in FIG. 2, the file server 10 includes acommunication control interface (I/F) 11, an access receiving module 12,a disk driver 13, a disk control I/F 14, a communication driver 16, anda file system 17.

The communication control I/F 11 is a network interface such as anetwork interface card (NIC), and controls communications concerningvarious types of information communicated with the client terminals 20connected. For example, the communication control I/F 11 receives anaccess request from a client terminal 20 and sends the response dataobtained from the disk device 30 to the client terminal 20 by executingthe access. The communication driver 16 is software for controlling acommunication device and controls communications with the clientterminals 20. For example, the communication driver 16 notifies theaccess receiving module 12 of the access request received via thecommunication control I/F 11 and sends the response data obtained fromthe disk device 30 to the corresponding client terminal 20 via thecommunication control I/F 11.

The access receiving module 12 receives access requests from the clientterminals 20. For example, the access receiving module 12 receives anaccess request from a client terminal 20 by running the samba program,which is an application to receive access requests, from the clientterminals 20. The access receiving module 12 then notifies the diskdriver 13 of the access request via the file system 17 in thelower-level layer. The file system 17 is software that manages the datastored in the disk device 30.

The access requests from the client terminal 20 will be described indetail. Examples of the access requests notified to the disk driver 13include a request to read data from the disk device 30 (so-called a readrequest) and a request to write data to the disk device 30 (so-called awrite request). The read request includes, for example, addressinformation indicative of the position to read in the disk device and adata size indicative of the size of the data read out from the positionof access. The address information is an address of a certain disk areain the disk driver, and is a block offset from the start that isspecified, for example, in units of block size (e.g., 512 bytes) of thedisk device. In this case, for example, an access request including theaddress information of 1000 means that the position of the 1000th block(512×1000 bytes) is specified from the position of a given startingpoint of the disk device. In the followings, address informationincluded in the access request and specified by the kernel is referredto as a logical address. Meanwhile, an address converted using alater-described conversion table 13 f is referred to as a physicaladdress.

The disk control I/F 14 is an interface such as a small computer systeminterface (SCSI) card and controls communications concerning the varioustypes of information communicated with the disk device 30 connected. Forexample, the disk control I/F 14 sends and receives data to be read andwritten by executing an access to the disk device 30.

The disk driver 13 controls an access to the disk device 30 as softwarefor controlling the disk device 30 and includes a counting module 13 a,an updating module 13 b, a changing module 13 c, and an accessing module13 d. The disk driver 13 further includes a count table 13 e and theconversion table 13 f. The process performed by each of the modules willbe explained hereinafter.

The count table 13 e stores therein the number of access requests havingoccurred for each logical address that is the address informationindicative of a storage area in the disk device 30 and is specified bythe kernel. For example, the count table 13 e, as illustrated in FIG. 3,stores therein logical addresses and access counters that indicate thenumber of access requests made to the corresponding logical address in acorresponding manner. For example, the logical address is managed inunits of 1 GB (gigabytes). For example, each logical address 0 indicatedin FIG. 3 means inclusion of the respective logical addresses of thestorage areas from the position of a given starting point of the diskdevice 30 up to 1 GB specified by the kernel. The example indicated inFIG. 3 is in a state of initial values, and thus the values of theaccess counters are all zeros. FIG. 3 is a table illustrating an exampleof the count table.

The conversion table 13 f stores therein, in a corresponding manner,logical addresses specified by the kernel and physical addressesspecified by the disk driver 13 that are both address informationindicative of storage areas in the disk device 30, and starting offsetsthat are the position of the starting point of the storage areaindicated by the corresponding physical address. For example, in theconversion table 13 f, as indicated in FIG. 4, the logical addresses,the physical addresses, and the starting offsets are stored in acorresponding manner. For example, the logical addresses and thephysical addresses are managed in units of 1 GB (gigabytes). Thestarting offsets are managed in block units of 512 bytes.

For example, the logical address 0 indicated in FIG. 4 means inclusionof the respective logical addresses of the storage areas from theposition of a given starting point of the disk device 30 up to 1 GBspecified by the kernel. Furthermore, the physical address 0 indicatedin FIG. 4 means inclusion of the respective physical addresses of thestorage areas from the position of a given starting point of the diskdevice 30 up to 1 GB specified by the disk driver 13. In the example inFIG. 4, the conversion table 13 f is in an initial state, and thus thelogical addresses and the physical addresses are in the same range ofstorage areas. FIG. 4 is a table illustrating an example of theconversion table.

The starting offset 0 indicated in FIG. 4 means that the position of agiven starting point of the disk device 30 for the physical address 0 islocated at the 0th block. More specifically, in the example in FIG. 4,the physical address 0 indicates inclusion of the respective physicaladdresses of the storage areas from the 0th block of the disk device 30up to the 2097151st block.

Furthermore, the physical address 1 indicates inclusion of therespective physical addresses of the storage areas from the 2097152ndblock of the disk device 30 up to the 4194303th block.

The counting module 13 a counts the number of access requests to each ofthe storage areas for each logical address in a given period of time.For example, when an access request is received from an application of ahigher-level than the disk driver 13, the counting module 13 aidentifies the logical address indicative of the storage area in thedata to be the subject of access. The counting module 13 a then countsup the access counter in the count table 13 e for the logical address atwhich accesses have occurred. Thereafter, the counting module 13 acarries out such counting process of the number of accesses until agiven time (for example, 2:00 a.m.).

For example, when an access to the logical address of 1.5 GB occurs asan access request from a higher-level application, which means an accessto the storage areas corresponding to the logical address 1, thecounting module 13 a counts up the number of accesses for the logicaladdress 1.

The updating module 13 b updates the conversion table 13 f such thatphysical address information is lined up in a descending order of thelogical addresses of a higher number of access requests counted by thecounting module 13 a. For example, at 2:00 a.m., the updating module 13b refers to the count table 13 e and determines the ranking of thenumber of accesses in a descending order of the logical addresses of ahigher count. The updating module 13 b then updates the conversion table13 f such that the physical address information is lined up in adescending order of the logical addresses of a higher number of accessrequests counted. While it will be described later in detail withreference to FIG. 5, a daemon 15 in the higher-level layer monitorswhether it comes to 2:00 a.m. and, at 2:00 a.m., the daemon 15 instructsthe updating module 13 b of the disk driver 13 to carry out the updatingprocess.

The process performed by the updating module 13 b will be explainedusing the examples in FIGS. 6 and 7. FIG. 6 is a table illustrating anexample of the count table. FIG. 7 is a table illustrating an example ofthe conversion table. In the example in FIG. 6, the count table 13 estores therein the number of accesses to the logical address 0 being200, the number of accesses to the logical address 1 being 30, and thenumber of accesses to the logical address 2 being 5000. Furthermore, thecount table 13 e stores therein the number of accesses to the logicaladdress 3 being 20, the number of accesses to the logical address 4being ten, and the number of accesses to the logical address 5 being6000. The count table 13 e stores therein the number of accesses to thelogical address 6 being 50, and the number of accesses to the logicaladdress 7 being 300. The count table 13 e stores therein the number ofaccesses to the logical address 8 being 40, and the number of accessesto the logical address 9 being five.

The updating module 13 b then ranks the logical addresses in adescending order of the number of accesses using the values of theaccess counter for each of the logical addresses stored in the counttable 13 e. For example, in the example in FIG. 6, the updating module13 b ranks the logical address 5 as the first because it has the largestnumber of accesses, and ranks the logical address 2 of the next largestnumber of accesses as the second.

The updating module 13 b then assigns the physical addresses of smallervalues to the ranks in a descending order of the logical addresses of ahigher number of accesses. The physical addresses here correspond to thedisk offsets and thus indicate that the smaller the value, the furthertowards the outer circumference of the disk device they are stored. Morespecifically, the updating module 13 b updates the conversion table 13 fsuch that the physical addresses are lined up from the outercircumference of the disk device 30 towards the inner circumferencethereof in a descending order of the logical addresses of a highernumber of access requests counted.

An example will be explained using FIG. 7. The updating module 13 bassigns the physical address 0 to the logical address 5 of the largestnumber of accesses, and assigns the physical address 1 to the logicaladdress 2 of the next largest number of accesses. The updating module 13b then assigns the physical addresses 2, 3, 4, and so on in sequence tothe logical addresses in a descending order of the logical addresses ofa higher number of accesses.

The changing module 13 c changes the storage areas of the data stored inthe disk device 30 based on the conversion table 13 f updated by theupdating module 13 b. For example, when the conversion table 13 f isupdated by the updating module 13 b, the changing module 13 c refers tothe correspondence relationship between the logical addresses and thephysical addresses stored in the conversion table 13 f. The changingmodule 13 c then moves the data stored in the disk device 30 such thatthe areas of smaller physical address values are assigned in adescending order of the logical addresses of a higher number of accessesand changes the storage areas of the data accordingly.

An example will be explained with the conversion table 13 f in FIG. 4before being updated and the conversion table 13 f in FIG. 7 after beingupdated. Because the physical address corresponding to the logicaladdress 0 is updated from 0 to 3, the changing module 13 c moves thedata in the storage area corresponding to the physical address 0 in thedisk device 30 to the storage area corresponding to the physical address3. More specifically, the changing module 13 c refers to the conversiontable 13 f and, when the physical address is updated from 0 to 3, movesthe data stored in the storage areas from the 0th block of the diskdevice 30 up to the 2097151st block to the storage areas from the6291456th block up to the 8388607th block.

The accessing module 13 d refers to the conversion table 13 f when thedisk driver 13 receives an access request to the disk device 30 from thehigher-level layer, and converts the logical address included in theaccess request to a physical address. The accessing module 13 d thenaccesses the disk device 30 with the storage area indicated by thephysical address as an access destination. For example, when an accessrequest is received from an application of the higher level, theaccessing module 13 d converts the logical address included in theaccess request to a physical address and accesses the disk device 30with the storage area indicated by the physical address as an accessdestination.

The accessing module 13 d receives the starting offset and the data sizeas the logical address that specifies the access destination and isincluded in the access request from the higher-level application. Theaccessing module 13 d then refers to the conversion table 13 f toconvert the value of the starting offset to the physical address.

An example will be explained with the conversion table 13 f in FIG. 7and the accessing module 13 d receiving an access request from anapplication requesting data with a starting offset of 5.5 GB and a datasize of 0.2 GB. In this case, because of the starting offset being 5.5GB, the accessing module 13 d determines that it corresponds to thelogical address 5. The accessing module 13 d then refers to theconversion table 13 f and, because of the physical address correspondingto the logical address 5 being 0, converts the starting offset from 5.5GB to 0.5 GB. The accessing module 13 d then executes an access to thedata areas whose starting offset is 0.5 GB and data size is 0.2 GB inthe disk device 30.

Another example will be explained with the conversion table 13 f in FIG.7 and the accessing module 13 d receiving an access request from anapplication requesting data with a starting offset of 0.7 GB and a datasize of 0.2 GB. In this case, because of the starting offset being 0.7GB, the accessing module 13 d determines that it corresponds to thelogical address 0. The accessing module 13 d then refers to theconversion table 13 f and, because of the physical address correspondingto the logical address 0 being 3, converts the starting offset from 0.7GB to 3.7 GB. The accessing module 13 d then executes an access to thedata areas whose starting offset is 3.7 GB and data size is 0.2 GB inthe disk device 30.

With reference to FIG. 5, the process performed by the disk driver 13receiving an access request from a higher-level application andaccessing the disk device will be explained. FIG. 5 is a diagram forexplaining the process performed by the disk driver in the file server.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the disk driver 13 operating in the kernelspace receives an access request (indicated as I/O in FIG. 5) from anapplication in the higher-level layer in the user space. The disk driver13 then converts the logical address included in the access request to aphysical address to carry out the access to the physical address in thedisk device 30. As illustrated in FIG. 5, in the file server 10, thedaemon 15, which is a computer program operated in background on the OS,is in operation. Such daemon 15 notifies, at a certain time interval,the disk driver 13 of start instructions for the updating process of theconversion table 13 f and the changing process of the data storage areasin the disk device 30. For example, every time it comes to 2:00 a.m.,the daemon 15 notifies the disk driver 13 of instructions to start theupdating process of the conversion table 13 f and the changing processof the data storage areas in the disk device 30.

As described in the foregoing, as a result of the storage areas in thedisk device 30 being restructured by the disk driver 13 changing thestorage areas of data, the storage areas for data of high accessfrequency (hereinafter, referred to as hot spots) can be concentrated inspecific areas on the disk device 30. With reference to FIG. 8, thechanges in input/output operations per second (iops) at each disk offsetof the disk device 30 after the changing process of the data storageareas will be explained. The iops here indicates the number of I/O(process of read/write) available per second. In the example in FIG. 8,the abscissa axes represent the disk offset uniquely indicative of eachstorage area in the disk device 30 and the ordinate axes represent theiops at each disk offset.

As illustrated in FIG. 8( a), before carrying out the changing processof the data storage areas, there are two hot spots of high iops valuebeing dispersed. As illustrated in FIG. 8( b), after the changingprocess of the data storage areas is carried out by the disk driver 13of the file server 10, the hot spots are concentrated in the storageareas whose disk offsets are small. Consequently, the file server 10according to the first embodiment can enhance the access performance andsuppress CPU load during an access to the disk device 30.

Process by File Server

With reference to FIG. 9, the process by the file server 10 according tothe first embodiment will be explained. FIG. 9 is a flowchartillustrating the processing operation of the file server according tothe first embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 9, the disk driver 13 of the file server 10 firstinitializes the conversion table 13 f (step S101), and waits for anaccess request from an application of the higher level. When an accessrequest is received from an application, the disk driver 13 refers tothe conversion table 13 f to convert the logical address included in theaccess request to a physical address. The disk driver 13 then accessesthe disk device 30 with the storage area indicated by the physicaladdress as an access destination (step S102).

While receiving access requests from an application, the disk driver 13counts up the number of access counts in the count table 13 e for thelogical address at which accesses have occurred (step S103).

The file server 10 determines whether it comes to 2:00 a.m. (step S104).For example, the daemon 15 of the file server 10 determines whether itcomes to 2:00 a.m. and, before it comes to 2:00 a.m. (No at step S104),the process returns to S102. On the other hand, when the daemon 15 ofthe file server 10 determines that it comes to 2:00 a.m. (Yes at stepS104), the daemon 15 notifies the disk driver 13 of instructions tostart the updating process of the conversion table 13 f and the changingprocess of the data storage areas in the disk device 30.

The disk driver 13 then updates the conversion table 13 f such that thephysical address information is lined up in a descending order of thelogical addresses of a higher number of access requests counted (stepS105). The disk driver 13 then changes the storage areas of the datastored in the disk device 30 based on the conversion table 13 f updated.For example, when the conversion table 13 f is updated by the updatingmodule 13 b, the changing module 13 c refers to the correspondencerelationship between the logical addresses and the physical addressesstored in the conversion table 13 f to move the data stored in the diskdevice 30 (step S106).

Effects of First Embodiment

Accordingly, the file server 10 stores data of high access frequency ina concentrated manner in the specific areas on the disk, whereby theaccess performance can be enhanced.

There is a tendency that accesses occur in limited areas and occur innearly the same areas throughout the day. Furthermore, there is atendency that accesses are concentrated only in limited areas making theload high, resulting in a plurality of dispersed areas of such highload. It is further known that such access tendencies hardly fluctuateover a long period of time such as one month. Accordingly, under suchtendencies, a method of reordering the physical addresses in adescending order of the logical addresses of a higher number of accessesto store data of high access frequency in a concentrated manner inspecific areas on the disk is particularly effective, and thus allowsthe access performance to be enhanced.

The file server 10 updates the conversion table 13 f such that thephysical addresses are lined up from the outer circumference of the diskdevice 30 towards the inner circumference thereof in a descending orderof the logical addresses of a higher number of access requests counted.Accordingly, data of high access frequency can be stored concentrated inthe storage areas on the outer circumference side of the disk, which isfast compared with the inner circumference thereof, thereby making itpossible to enhance the access performance.

[b] Second Embodiment

In the first embodiment above, it has been explained that the unit forlogical addresses and physical addresses is exemplified as 1 GB and theunit of data to move in the disk device 30 is also exemplified as 1 GB.However, the embodiment is not restricted to this, and the unit forlogical addresses and physical addresses may be changed in response tofluctuations of accesses with time. More specifically, in the fileserver system, as described in the foregoing, while there is a tendencythat accesses are concentrated in some storage areas only, the areas ofaccesses being concentrated may fluctuate with time in a degree of a fewdozens of gigabytes. Accordingly, to absorb the fluctuations of areaswhere accesses occur with time, the unit for logical addresses andphysical addresses is changed in response to the fluctuations ofaccesses with time.

A second embodiment of the invention in the followings provides anexample of changing the unit for logical addresses and physicaladdresses in response to the fluctuations of accesses with time andchanging the unit for the logical addresses and the physical addressesand the unit of data to move in the disk device 30. In the followings,with reference to FIGS. 10 to 12, the configuration and the process of afile server 10A of the second embodiment will be described. FIG. 10 is ablock diagram illustrating the configuration of the file serveraccording to the second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustratingthe operation of a dividing unit changing process performed by the fileserver according to the second embodiment. FIG. 12 is a flowchartillustrating the processing operation of the file sever according to thesecond embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 10, the file server 10A differs from the fileserver 10 illustrated in FIG. 2 in that the file server 10A includes acalculating module 13 g and a deciding module 13 h. The calculatingmodule 13 g of the file server 10A divides the storage area in the diskdevice by a plurality of dividing units in a given period of time andcalculates a rate of an area where the load by access requests in agiven time zone is equal to or more than a certain level for each of thedividing units. The calculating module 13 g then calculates the standarddeviation of the rate of the area where the load during the given periodof time is equal to or more than a certain level for each of thedividing units.

For example, the calculating module 13 g divides the storage area in thedisk device by the dividing units of 1 GB, 2 GB, 4 GB, 8 GB, 16 GB, 32GB, and 64 GB in a period of one week. The calculating module 13 g thencalculates the rate of an area where the load by access requests from12:00 to 18:00 is equal to or more than 1 iops on average for each ofthe dividing units. The calculating module 13 g calculates the standarddeviation of the rate of a hot spot, which is an area where the loadduring the period of one week is 1 iops or greater on average, for eachdividing unit. The calculating module 13 g further calculates theaverage value of the rates of areas where the load during the period ofone week are equal to or greater than a certain level for each dividingunit.

The deciding module 13 h decides a range of areas of the storage area inthe disk device divided by the smallest dividing unit out of thedividing units that render the standard deviation calculated by thecalculating module 13 g to be equal to or less than a given thresholdvalue as a range of areas for the logical addresses and the physicaladdresses stored in the conversion table 13 f. For example, the decidingmodule 13 h determines whether the average value of the load by theaccess requests is zero for all of the dividing units. When the averagevalue of the load by the access requests for all of the dividing unitsis zero as a result, it means there is no hot spot present where theload is 1 iops or greater on average, and thus the deciding module 13 hdetermines the dividing unit to be an initial value of 1 GB. The hotspot here means, as described above, a storage area of high accessfrequency where the load by access requests is 1 iops or greater onaverage.

When the average value of the load by the access requests for all of thedividing units is not zero, the deciding module 13 h further determineswhether a dividing unit is present that renders all of the standarddeviations to be equal to or less than five. In other words, thedeciding module 13 h determines whether the rate of the area where theCPU load is 1 iops or greater on average fluctuates with time.

Accordingly, when there is no dividing unit present that renders thestandard deviation to be five or less, the deciding module 13 h selects64 GB, which is the largest dividing unit, as the dividing unit. Inother words, because the rate of the area with an average of 1 iops orgreater fluctuates with time even by any of the dividing units, thelargest dividing unit of 64 GB is selected as the dividing unit. This isbecause, when the standard deviation exceeds five, the fluctuationsexceed the range of the dividing unit, and thus the correspondingdividing unit is not be used.

Meanwhile, when there is a dividing unit that renders the standarddeviation to be five or less is present, the file server 10A selects thesmallest dividing unit out of the dividing units that render thestandard deviation to be five or less. For example, when all of thestandard deviations of 8 GB, 16 GB, 32 GB, and 64 GB are five or less, 8GB is selected as the dividing unit. This is because, when the standarddeviation is five or less, the fluctuations fall within the range of thedividing unit, and thus the corresponding dividing unit can be used.

The process performed by the file server 10A according to the secondembodiment will be explained. As illustrated in FIG. 11, the file server10A divides a disk volume of the disk device 30 by the unit of 1 GB, andstores data of the number of accesses executed from 12:00 to 18:00 in aone-minute interval for each dividing unit (step S201). The file server10A then divides the area of the disk volume of the disk device 30 by 1GB, 2 GB, 4 GB, 8 GB, 16 GB, 32 GB, and 64 GB. The file server 10Acalculates the rate with an average of 1 iops or greater on the data ofthe number of accesses stored from 12:00 to 18:00 for each of thedividing units (step S202).

The file server 10A then determines whether the data of the number ofaccesses stored from 12:00 to 18:00 for one week is stored (step S203).When it is not determined that the data for one week is stored as aresult (No at step S203), the file server 10A returns to step S201 andrepeats the processes of steps S201 to S203 until the data for one weekis stored. Meanwhile, when it is determined that the data for one weekis stored (Yes at step S203), the file server 10A calculates the averagevalue and the standard deviation for one week for each of the dividingunits of 1 GB, 2 GB, 4 GB, 8 GB, 16 GB, 32 GB, and 64 GB (step S204).

The file server 10A then determines whether the average value for all ofthe dividing units is zero (step S205). When it is determined that theaverage value for all of the dividing units is zero as a result (Yes atstep S205), the file server 10A finishes processing leaving the dividingunit as 1 GB because there is no hot spot present where the load is 1iops or greater on average. When it is not determined that the averagevalue for all of the dividing units is zero (No at step S205), the fileserver 10A further determines whether a dividing unit that renders thestandard deviation to be five or less is present (step S206). In otherwords, the file server 10A determines whether the rate of the CPU loadwith an average of 1 iops or greater fluctuates with time.

As a result, when there is no dividing unit present that renders thestandard deviation to be five or less (No at step S206), the file server10A selects 64 GB as the dividing unit (step S208). In other words,because the rate of the load with an average of 1 iops or greaterfluctuates with time even by any of the dividing units, the largestdividing unit of 64 GB is selected as the dividing unit.

Furthermore, when a dividing unit that renders the standard deviation tobe five or less is present (Yes at step S206), the file server 10Aselects the smallest dividing unit out of the dividing units that renderthe standard deviation to be five or less (step S207).

With reference to FIG. 12, explained is the process of changing thedividing unit for the logical addresses and the physical addresses inthe conversion table 13 f to the dividing unit decided when the dividingunit is changed. In the example in FIG. 12, an explanation is made withthe dividing unit changed to be A GB. As indicated in FIG. 12, the fileserver 10A divides the disk volume of the disk device 30 by the unit ofA GB (step S301). The file server 10A stores the number of accesses forone day for each of the areas divided into A GB (step S302).

The file server 10A then carries out reordering of the storage areas ofdata on the disk device 30 in a descending order of areas of a highernumber of accesses, and updates the conversion table 13 f based on theresult of the reordering performed (step S303). Thereafter, when anaccess is requested, the file server 10A obtains the physical addressbased on the logical address in accordance with the conversion table 13f updated and carries out the access to the desk device 30.

Consequently, even when access areas are fluctuated with time, the fileserver 10A changes the storage areas of data on the disk device 30 by anappropriate dividing unit, thereby making it possible to enhance theaccess performance.

[c] Third Embodiment

In the first embodiment, it has been explained that the updating processof the conversion table and the changing process of the data storageareas in the disk device are carried out every given time interval.However, the embodiment is not restricted to this, and the updatingprocess of the conversion table and the changing process of the datastorage areas in the disk device may be carried out only when a certainincrease in performance can be expected.

A third embodiment of the invention in the followings provides anexample of determining whether the difference between a physical addressbefore being updated and a physical address after being updated is equalto or more than a given threshold value if the conversion table isupdated so as to determine whether to carry out the updating process ofthe conversion table and the changing process of the data storage areasin the disk device. In other words, by determining whether a certainincrease in performance can be expected if the data storage areas in thedisk device are changed, the updating process and the changing processare carried out only when the certain increase in performance can beexpected.

In the followings, the process performed by a file server according tothe third embodiment will be explained with reference to FIGS. 13 and14. FIG. 13 illustrates graphs for explaining the process of determiningwhether to carry out the reordering process based on the distancebetween hot spots. FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating the processingoperation of the file server according to the third embodiment. Theconfiguration of the file server of the third embodiment is the same asthat of the file server 10 depicted in FIG. 2, and thus its explanationis omitted.

As described above, in the file server according to the thirdembodiment, the updating process of the conversion table and thechanging process of the data storage areas in the disk device 30 arecarried out only when a certain increase in performance can be expected.In other words, because the updating process of the conversion table iscarried out and the changing process of the data storage areas in thedisk device 30 is carried out to reorder the data, the processing maybecome heavy. To cope with this, in the file server according to thethird embodiment, the updating process of the conversion table and thechanging process of the data storage areas in the disk device are notcarried out every time it comes to 2:00 a.m. as explained in the firstembodiment, but the updating process and the changing process arecarried out only when a certain increase in performance can be expected.

For example, in the file server according to the third embodiment, afluctuation range of data is obtained in advance in which an increase of10% or more in access performance can be expected. The fluctuation rangeof data in which an increase of 10% or more in the access performancecan be expected here is assumed to be X GB. The fluctuation range meansa range between the peaks of hot spots. As exemplified in the left graphin FIG. 13, when there are two hot spots dispersed in the disk deviceand the distance between the hot spots is equal to or more than X GB,the updating process of the conversion table and the changing process ofthe data storage areas in the disk device are carried out. As aconsequence, as exemplified in the right graph in FIG. 13, the dispersedhot spots are concentrated in specific areas, and thus it allows anincrease of 10% or more in the access performance to be expected. In theexample illustrated in FIG. 13, the abscissa axes represent the diskoffset of the disk device and the ordinate axes represent the iops ateach disk offset.

In the file server according to the third embodiment, to identify thedistance between the hot spots, the difference between a physicaladdress before being updated and a physical address after being updatedis obtained. For example, in the file server according to the thirdembodiment, the threshold value of the fluctuation range of data inwhich an increase of 10% or more in the access performance can beexpected is assumed to be set as 3 GB. When the file server according tothe third embodiment updates the physical address corresponding to thelogical address 1 from 1 to 6 by the updating process of the conversiontable 13 f, the data is moved by 5 GB, which is greater than thethreshold value of 3 GB. Accordingly, the file server according to thethird embodiment carries out the updating process of the table andcarries out the changing process of the data storage areas in the diskdevice 30.

With reference to FIG. 14, the process performed by the file serveraccording to the third embodiment will be explained. As indicated inFIG. 14, the file server according to the third embodiment firstinitializes the conversion table 13 f similarly to the first embodiment(step S401). When an access is requested, the file server accesses thedisk device 30 (step S402), and counts up the number of accesses (stepS403).

Thereafter, after it comes to 2:00 a.m. (Yes at step S404), the fileserver according to the third embodiment determines, at the time ofupdating the conversion table 13 f, whether the difference between thephysical address before being updated and the physical address afterbeing updated is equal to or more than a given threshold value (stepS405). When the difference between the physical address before beingupdated and the physical address after being updated is not equal to ormore than the given threshold value (No at step S405), the file serveraccording to the third embodiment finishes processing without carryingout the updating process and the changing process because an increase of10% or more in the access performance is not be expected.

Furthermore, when the difference between the physical address beforebeing updated and the physical address after being updated is the giventhreshold value or greater (Yes at step S405), the file server accordingto the third embodiment updates the conversion table 13 f only for theportions where an increase of 10% or more in the access performance canbe expected (step S406). The file server according to the thirdembodiment then changes the storage areas of the data stored in the diskdevice 30 based on the conversion table 13 f updated (step S407).

Consequently, when not much increase in the access performance isexpected from changing the storage areas of data, it is possible tocancel the updating of the conversion table 13 f, which prevents aprocessing burden imposed by changing the storage areas of the data.

[d] Fourth Embodiment

While the embodiments of the invention have been described in theforegoing, the invention may be implemented in various differentembodiments other than the embodiments described above. In thefollowings, different embodiments will be explained.

(1) Process Timing

While the updating process of the conversion table and the changingprocess of the data storage areas in the disk device are exemplified tobe carried out once a day at the timing of reaching 2:00 a.m. in thefirst embodiment, the invention is not restricted to this example. Forexample, the file server may carry out the updating process and thechanging process a plurality of times a day, or may carry out theupdating process of the conversion table and the changing process of thedata storage areas in the disk device once in a few days.

(2) System Configuration, Etc.

Each of the constituent elements of each device illustrated in thedrawings is functionally conceptual and is not necessarily configuredphysically as illustrated in the drawings. In other words, the specificembodiments of distribution and integration of devices are notrestricted to those illustrated, and the whole or a part thereof can beconfigured by being functionally or physically distributed or integratedin any unit in accordance with various types of loads and usage. Forexample, the counting module 13 a and the updating module 13 b may beintegrated. Furthermore, the whole or any part of each of the processingfunctions carried out in the respective devices can be realized by a CPUand a computer program analyzed and executed by the CPU or can berealized by a wired logic as hardware.

(3) Computer Program

The various processes explained in the above embodiments can be realizedby a computer system such as a personal computer and a workstationexecuting a computer program prepared in advance. Accordingly, acomputer system that executes a computer program having the samefunctions as those of the above embodiments will be explained in thefollowings as another embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 15, a computer system 600 is constructed with anHDD 610, a RAM 620, a ROM 630, and a CPU 640, and the foregoingcomponents are connected with one another via a bus 650. The ROM 630here stores therein in advance a computer program that exercises thesame functions as those of the above embodiments, more specifically, asindicated in FIG. 15, an access control program 631.

In the CPU 640, by reading and executing the access control program 631,an access control process 641 is brought out as indicated in FIG. 15. Byreading out the access control program 631 and executing the accesscontrol process 641, the same processes are executed as those of thecounting module 13 a, the updating module 13 b, the changing module 13c, and the accessing module 13 d illustrated in FIG. 2 described in theforegoing.

The HDD 610 stores therein a counter table 611 and a conversion table612. The CPU 640 registers data to the counter table 611 and theconversion table 612, reads out the counter table 611 and the conversiontable 612 to store the data in the RAM 620, and executes the processesbased on the data stored in the RAM 620.

The access control program 631 is not necessarily stored in the ROM 630.For example, by storing the program in a portable physical medium to beinserted to the computer system 600 such as a flexible disk (FD), aCD-ROM, an MO disk, a DVD disk, a magneto optical disc, and an IC card,the computer system 600 may read out the program therefrom to executethe program. Furthermore, by storing the program in a fixed physicalmedium such as a hard disk drive (HDD) provided inside or outside of thecomputer system 600, or in another computer system connected to thecomputer system 600 via a public line, the Internet, a LAN, a WAN, orthe like, the computer system 600 may read out the program therefrom toexecute the program.

The access performance to a recording medium by the device driver can beenhanced.

All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended forpedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the inventionand the concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art, andare to be construed as being without limitation to such specificallyrecited examples and conditions, nor does the organization of suchexamples in the specification relate to a showing of the superiority andinferiority of the invention. Although the embodiments of the presentinvention have been described in detail, it should be understood thatthe various changes, substitutions, and alterations could be made heretowithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

1. A computer-readable, non-transitory medium storing an access controlprogram causing a computer to perform: accessing a storage device with astorage area indicated by second address information as an accessdestination, when a device driver receives an access request to thestorage device from a higher-level layer, by referring to a storagemodule that stores therein a correspondence relationship between a firstaddress specified by kernel and a second address converted from thefirst address that are address information indicative of a storage areain the storage device and by converting the first address informationincluded in the access request to the second address information;counting number of access requests to each storage area from thehigher-level layer to the device driver in a given period of time foreach piece of the first address information; updating the correspondencerelationship in the storage module such that the second addressinformation is lined up in a descending order of the first addressinformation of a higher number of the access requests counted; andchanging storage areas of data stored in the storage device based on thecorrespondence relationship updated.
 2. The compute-readable,non-transitory medium storing the access control program according toclaim 1, further causing the computer to perform: calculating standarddeviation of a rate of an area where a load caused by access requests isequal to or more than a certain level in a given period of time for eachdividing unit by dividing a storage area in the storage device by aplurality of dividing units and by calculating the rate of the areawhere the load is equal to or more than the certain level in a giventime zone for each of the dividing units in the given period of time;and deciding a smallest dividing unit out of the dividing units that aredetermined to have the standard deviation of equal to or less than agiven threshold value as a range of area for the first addressinformation and the second address information of the correspondencerelationship stored in the storage module by determining whether eachstandard deviation calculated is equal to or less than the giventhreshold value.
 3. The computer-readable, non-transitory medium storingthe access control program according to claim 1, further causing thecomputer to perform determining whether a difference between the secondaddress information before a change and the second address informationafter the change is equal to or more than a given threshold value at atime of updating the correspondence relationship, and updating thecorrespondence relationship when the difference is equal to or more thanthe given threshold value and cancelling an update of the correspondencerelationship when the difference is not equal to or more than the giventhreshold value.
 4. The computer-readable, non-transitory medium storingthe access control program according to claim 2, further causing thecomputer to perform determining whether a difference between the secondaddress information before a change and the second address informationafter the change is equal to or more than a given threshold value at atime of updating the correspondence relationship, and updating thecorrespondence relationship when the difference is equal to or more thanthe given threshold value and cancelling an update of the correspondencerelationship when the difference is not equal to or more than the giventhreshold value.
 5. The computer-readable, non-transitory medium storingthe access control program according to claim 1, further causing thecomputer to perform updating the correspondence relationship such thatthe second address information is lined up from an outer circumferenceof the storage device towards an inner circumference thereof in adescending order of the first address information of a higher number ofthe access requests counted.
 6. The computer-readable, non-transitorymedium storing the access control program according to claim 2, furthercausing the computer to perform updating the correspondence relationshipsuch that the second address information is lined up from an outercircumference of the storage device towards an inner circumferencethereof in a descending order of the first address information of ahigher number of the access requests counted.
 7. The computer-readable,non-transitory medium storing the access control program according toclaim 3, further causing the computer to perform updating thecorrespondence relationship such that the second address information islined up from an outer circumference of the storage device towards aninner circumference thereof in a descending order of the first addressinformation of a higher number of the access requests counted.
 8. Anaccess control method for controlling an access to a storage deviceperformed by an information processing apparatus, the access controlmethod comprising: accessing the storage device with a storage areaindicated by second address information as an access destination, when adevice driver receives an access request to the storage device from ahigher-level layer, by referring to a storage module that stores thereina correspondence relationship between a first address specified bykernel and a second address converted from the first address that areaddress information indicative of a storage area in the storage deviceand by converting the first address information included in the accessrequest to the second address information; counting number of accessrequests to each storage area from the higher-level layer to the devicedriver in a given period of time for each piece of the first addressinformation; updating the correspondence relationship in the storagemodule such that the second address information is lined up in adescending order of the first address information of a higher number ofthe access requests counted; and changing storage areas of data storedin the storage device based on the correspondence relationship updated.9. An information processing apparatus comprising: a device driver thatcontrols an access to a storage device, the device driver including: astorage module that stores therein a correspondence relationship betweena first address specified by kernel and a second address converted fromthe first address that are address information indicative of a storagearea in the storage device; an accessing module that accesses thestorage device with a storage area indicated by second addressinformation as an access destination, when the device driver receives anaccess request to the storage device from the higher-level layer, byreferring to the storage module and by converting the first addressinformation included in the access request to the second addressinformation; a counting module that counts number of the access requeststo each storage area in a given period of time for each piece of thefirst address information; an updating module that updates thecorrespondence relationship in the storage module such that the secondaddress information is lined up in a descending order of the firstaddress information of a higher number of the access requests counted bythe counting module; and a changing module that changes storage areas ofdata stored in the storage device based on the correspondencerelationship updated by the updating module.
 10. An informationprocessing apparatus comprising: a processor; and a memory that storestherein a correspondence relationship between a first address specifiedby kernel and a second address converted from the first address that areaddress information indicative of a storage area in the storage device,wherein the processor executes: accessing the storage device with astorage area indicated by second address information as an accessdestination, when the device driver receives an access request to thestorage device from the higher-level layer, by referring to the memoryand by converting the first address information included in the accessrequest to the second address information; counting number of accessrequests to each storage area from the higher-level layer to the devicedriver in a given period of time for each piece of the first addressinformation; updating the correspondence relationship in the storagemodule such that the second address information is lined up in adescending order of the first address information of a higher number ofthe access requests counted; and changing storage areas of data storedin the storage device based on the correspondence relationship updated.